This invention relates to a pet food composition containing fermentable fibers for maintaining normal gastrointestinal function and ameliorating chronic diarrhea in animals.
Diarrhea is defined as an increase in fecal water content with an accompanying increase in the frequency, fluidity or volume of bowel movements. Also, diarrhea is the primary clinical sign of intestinal disease in the dog and one of the most common presenting signs in veterinary medicine. There are two approaches taken by current commercial pet animal gastrointestinal diets to address the problem. First, some formulas use reduced fiber and fat as methods to alleviate diarrhea. However, these diets do not address the underlying problem. They just limit the nutrients that a compromised gastrointestinal tract may not completely assimilate. This, in turn, lowers the quantity of unprocessed matter excreted by the animal. Therefore, these diets reduce the overt signs of diarrhea, but they do nothing to alleviate the abnormal intestinal conditions of the animal.
The second approach uses formulas containing high quantities of cellulose fiber to overwhelm the gastrointestinal tract with an insoluble fiber. The end product of this approach is an increase in fecal bulk. This approach has the same problem as the low-fat/low-fiber diet approach. Cellulose fiber does nothing to improve the condition of the intestinal tract, it just reduces the overt signs of diarrhea.
Therefore, a need still exists for a pet food composition which actually alleviates the intestinal conditions that produce diarrhea and restores, and then maintains, normal gastrointestinal function.